The descriptions here on the individual segments don’t tell the tale enough to set it up yourself.Working on a SEO workout with individual exercises to support proper learning. Just reading text doesn’t do the job justice. The effort to place the right words where they can the most impact takes time to learn to make it right.

I am still debating on the proper way to set up the exercises. My goal is to be done by the end of this week. Any comments and questions you have on SEO should be posted. I’ll either answer directly or add that data to the book.

Losing Web pages

The layout of your web site can stop the crawlers from finding your pages. If the web site goes over 2 levels deep from the home page many crawlers are instructed not go deeper. Levels coming off like this Home/Level 2/Level 3 /Level  4/Level 5. All data from the Level 3  or Level 4 for a few advanced crawlers will not be found.  Since your web site needs viewed by the largest possible audience use the Level 3 as your maximum depth.

If your site has any data aligned this way it indicates the need to reorganise your site layout. Getting into that sad shape takes time so a new website has a very low probability of having this problem.

Losing web pages is  a fate you can prevent your web site from happening. Pay attentition to web crawler rules they keep changing and your site could have much of it lost by your site design.

Google’s Sandbox

One of the algorithms Google uses  for ranking Web pages is the SandBox algorithm. Pages that haven’t been updated for a long time will gradually lose their positions in the rankings even if they initially had high positions. Google adds thousands of new web pages to its index. The freshness of the page data by date & content influences where that page ranks. Notice it is the page of the web site it judges not the whole web site.  Google assumes that newer pages have more updated information than older ones. This process will gradually “dissolve” your site ranking against your competition, while your old pages get “crowded out” by the new additions from the top results.

Retaining high positions requires adding content on a frequent basis. Or adjusting the content of the page. Important because a few words changed on a page could show it up as changed and keep your spot.

Upkeep and update your site frequenly or you can lose your spot. Getting to the first page of a Google search is very important but maintaining it there takes time and effort. It’s free online advertisement and losing your position can be costly.

The longer your site stays static the more likely your site will get put into Google’s Sandbox don’t let this happen.

Cobwebs may be growing on your web site if you haven’t maintained it. Things keep changing in the search engines on a weekly basis. Leaving your web site on automatic without an occasional maintaintence run can leave you out of the loop. Have a professional look into it. Take the pulse of your web site.

It can happen to even the best designed web site. Web sites need new content too! Cobwebs mean your web site is old and out of date.

Keyword focus 

is the heart of your web site. Choose the wrong focus and you either get the wrong traffic or no traffic. Consider your target audience and compitition.

Locality

Seems rather simple use your keywords and include locational names to get found. Not that simple though. If you have a high level compititor in your chosen market your efforts could be wasted. Use Google to your advantage. Search using your keywords and location in Google and see what your compitition is. Then after you adjust your site revisit Google and see where you end up. If it doesn’t bring you to the top consider a different approach.  Changes may take a day or two to show up so don’t panic that you adjustments didn’t work.

There are free tools like www.spyfoo.com that allow access to the keywords any web site are using. Even more importantly learning what keywords are not being used. It might be better to compete by using a different set of keywords for the same product. Get to the top by changing your sites focus to where others aren’t playing. Much better to be in the first page for a small keyword search than on page 15 for a common keyword search.  

Consider the depth of where you want to cover.  It is much easier to command the front page attention from a small town rather than a large urban area.